


A Hundred Words Spoken, A Hundred Thousand Lives on the Line

by MysticDragonArts



Category: Homestuck
Genre: Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-26
Updated: 2019-06-26
Packaged: 2020-05-20 10:36:56
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 860
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19374991
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/MysticDragonArts/pseuds/MysticDragonArts
Summary: Dirk Strilonde, seated on the Dark Throne of Derse, cares about few things more than he does keeping his kingdom, and most importantly, his family, safe. A series of unfortunate misunderstandings and prodding from the Horrors send him spiraling into a rage fueled warlust that must be sedated. One way or another.





	A Hundred Words Spoken, A Hundred Thousand Lives on the Line

    For as long as anyone in Skaia could remember, the country had always been split into three, separate, yet equally important kingdoms. To the northeast, a land of eternal warmth, heavenly sun, and bountiful harvests. Joy, laughter, and love. Prospit was a kingdom of romantics, where bountiful harvests led to enough food and enough income for people to live happily and comfortably. No one felt pressured to status climb. Even the lowest paid servant was wealthy enough to provide for them self, find their love, and marry, then be able to support children. And then those children went on, growing close to their friends as they played and laughed in the mud, playing knight and princess. Young love is very sweet.

    To the south, bathed in temperatures that rarely crawled above ten degrees, Derse seemed the polar opposite. There was rarely ever any light during this eternal winter, with dark storm clouds covering the sun for most of the year. The people were catty and bitter, cold and calculating. They primarily cared only for themselves, and not for finding love or families. Exceptions were rarer than the likelihood of sunlight touching the ground, and does not include the King, who's overbearing protection of his five other siblings was more than just a rumor passed around from townsfolk to townsfolk.

   Then, through the thick, dense woods far to the east, was Alternia. To most people, no more than a myth. A children's tale. Once believed to have a strong connection to the Gods that once ruled Skaia, the fae that inhabited this fabled kingdom served to maintain the peace between the kingdoms. The only people who believed in these tales, and carried out the ancient traditions, were the ruling families and higher nobility. Common townsfolk didn't seem to believe in that kind of thing anymore.

    Simple rules were implemented to maintain peace among the kingdoms, followed strictly by the ruling families for millenia. Inter-kingdom marriage was strictly forbidden. Any attack of any kind, regardless of whether it involved an army, must be provoked, personal, defendable, and end as quickly as it began. A kingdom must be willing to donate food and necessities to their neighbouring kingdoms, should it be needed. And every so often, the leaders of these three great nations would gather at a shrine, built in the forested area between Alternia and the other two nations, built to worship the Gods of old, and offer gifts, hoping that doing so would stave off their destructive wrath for another year.

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    Davis Strilonde never enjoyed these meetings. Being the youngest of six, he stood no chance in line to the Dersite Throne, and never thought hsi presence was necessary. Only two people had to provide a gift, so he didn't understand why every living member of the royal family had to attend. Even with the peace in Skaia, it left the kingdom alarmingly open. But, should he try to bring up these concerns with Dirk, or even Halcyon, he was brushed off with a _"It needs to be done."_ Roxy would at least listen to him, but even she was powerless to sway the opinion of the older twins.

    Dave couldn't care less either way, and Rose, who might be able to convince them, was almost never home. Although he loved his family, as they travelled out to the middle of nowhere in the middle of the damn winter, he found himself thinking that he wasn't particularly happy. Of course, he'd be lying if he said he wasn't comfortable with his life. He was loved by his family, and he didn't have to worry about the stress of the crown's weight on his head. He couldn't imagine what it was like to be in Dirk's shoes, sitting on that Dark Throne all day, thoughts and commands fed to him by the gods of old. In a way, he was no different than Hal, acting out the commands of a higher power. The right hand man to the crown of fate.

    Regardless, he tried. He tried to imagine what it was like. Leaning his head back against the wall, he glanced at Dirk across the carraige, sitting nobly in his seat, reading a book, with out a single care in the world. Davis tried to imagine the roles reversed. If it were him in that seat, being able to read whatever he liked, when ever he liked. Being able to attend to political matters and the people's issues on his own time, with, perhaps Dave providing feedback and advice. In his hands was the power to make his kingdom a better place, to make his people happy. Maybe he could spread that happiness to the rest of Skaia as well. Prospit seemed to be pretty good at it.

 

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    Davis woke, unsure when he fell asleep. Tugging back the curtain a little bit to look out the carriage window, he saw, for the first time in a year, not a single cloud in the sky. The sky was coated in dusty shades of pinks and blues and purples as the sun began to descend behind a quickly approaching treeline. They were almost there.


End file.
